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CHAPTER 42……
#42. Each One’s Survival (1)
The girl with coral-colored eyes gave me a neat, bright smile.
“We too are looking forward to more chances to see Your Highness.”
“Right. Hmm… Lady Theia Nestor.”
“It’s an honor that you remember me, Your Highness.”
She was the eldest daughter of Count Nestor, one of the high noble families of the capital.
Twelve-year-old Theia.
I recalled a conversation I’d had with Lete.
“What kind of family is that? And what kind of man is the Count?”
“Stubborn and sometimes… no, often talks back to Lord Erebos, but he’s an influential man.”
“So, he’s someone who lives by risking his life?”
“Heh, no. He’s competent, so Lord Erebos treats him accordingly.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. His eldest daughter Theia is already quite popular among the girls.”
“Oh, then there’s a younger one too?”
“Yes. The second daughter, Selina, is said to be a quiet child who likes drawing.”
“I see.”
“Actually, they were once considered as possible playmates for Your Highness instead of the young master.”
But then, thorny words came my way.
“At the birthday festival, you only spoke with the Saint of Halcyon, so I thought you didn’t even know our names.”
My hand, about to lift my teacup, paused.
Theia’s smile was still cool.
“…That couldn’t be the case, Lady.”
“Isn’t that so? But I’ve heard you’ve taken the Prince of Halcyon as your companion even now.”
“That’s because the prince didn’t have a proper place to stay—”
I almost snapped back in irritation, but then another fact came to mind.
‘The Nestor household also sent knights to the Charon War.’
If so, people she knew must have been injured or killed in Charon. Relatives too, likely.
At that moment, the young lady with orange hair and coral eyes mumbled.
She had her hair braided on both sides, freckles dotting her cute face.
“Sister, that’s a bit…”
“What is it, Selina?”
“Ah—ah… nothing. Nothing at all.”
Selina Nestor shut her mouth again.
The other children, cowed by Theia’s force, started exchanging wary glances.
“Surely, the one who will become the 25th Erebos wouldn’t be defending a Halcyon human, would they?”
“…”
“The Princess may not know, but a lot happened in Charon.”
I gave a faint smile at those words.
Of all the people here, no one knew better than I what had happened in Charon.
But telling these children that, or…
‘…or asking them to understand why I care about Calion and Armene — that’s out of the question.’
Hmm. But this situation wasn’t good.
At this rate, I’d be crushed in a contest of wills before we could even become acquainted.
‘Should I just suppress them with magic for a moment? No, that would only fan their resentment.’
Before I could think further, a vibration rose from the floor.
I also heard furniture banging roughly against each other.
And not just once — but repeatedly.
“Kyaa!”
The children screamed in surprise and stood up.
In their panic, teacups were dropped, and chaos broke out.
“Everyone calm down!”
I shouted urgently at them.
“This isn’t an earthquake. Quickly, get outside!”
“Ah, Your Highness! But—”
“I said go!”
I grunted as I pushed the children toward the door.
Just then, the door burst open and Minte came running in.
“Princess!”
“Minte! What’s going on downstairs? An accident?”
“Nothing for you to worry about, Your Highness. It’s just—”
Minte gritted her teeth and whispered to me.
“Lord Ares and Prince Alcyone are fighting.”
“What…”
No way — those two idiots?
As Sinope had said, the second floor of the salon also had amusements for people to enjoy.
But Ares and Calion were standing with their arms crossed, both looking away from each other.
‘Tch, that smug-eyed brat.’
‘When will I finally knock this gnat down? I should just shove him into the pond.’
Just then, the door to the second floor opened and three boys about Ares’s age came in.
They were young noble heirs, here to match outfits and build camaraderie.
When they saw Ares, their eyes widened.
“Gasp, Lord Ismenios!”
“Ah. Oh.”
“It’s been a while!”
“Has it?”
“Yes! We met briefly at the birthday festival—”
“Only had a one-second greeting.”
Ares spoke indifferently.
He didn’t care at all when he’d met them; at the birthday festival, he’d only been looking at Sion.
Still, the boys stood stiffly and smiled in front of him.
He was the youngest son of a duke — second only in power to the royal family.
The younger brother of a duke who rode dragons!
And rumors even whispered he could use magic.
‘If you get on Ismenios’s bad side, you’re in trouble.’
While they smiled cautiously, their eyes shifted to Calion, who stood silently behind Ares.
“My lord, um… are you close with Prince Alcyone?”
“…No.”
Ares muttered, avoiding everyone’s gaze.
Sion’s parting request came back to him.
“You’ll look after Calion, right?”
Just thinking of that made his stomach twist.
When the lisp in Sion’s voice was gone, she started acting even more like a “big sister” — but only toward Calion.
‘Then what about me?’
She always called him her closest friend, but never once worried about him.
Once that thought hit, he found himself growing more sullen with every passing second.
‘Not once did she cheer for me.’
Before Calion arrived, Ares had Sion’s encouragement all to himself.
But now her attention was split in half.
“Well done” had become just “You worked hard.”
If Sion would just cheer him on to win, Ares would’ve fought with a blade in his teeth if he had to.
‘Stupid Sion. You know nothing.’
Snorting, Ares turned his back to Calion.
“How could I possibly be close with His Highness the Prince?”
“Ah, I see…”
When the three boys’ eyes sparkled, Ares — feeling annoyed — left his seat.
In the meantime, the three approached Calion with smiles.
“Prince Alcyone, it’s a pleasure to meet you?”
“…A pleasure.”
The mocking tone made Calion tense.
‘This is bad.’
From the moment they saw him, the room had been filled with a loud “sound”.
The same sound his older brother used to make before hitting him.
Sure enough—
The largest of the boys leaned in and whispered.
“You filthy Halcyon bug. Who let you in here?”
“…How insolent.”
“Insolent? And who do you think you are?”
“I am a prince of a nation. Even if this is your land, there are proper courtesies to observe.”
“Ha! I heard Lord Erebos even sent back all the human attendants.”
Another boy’s eyes gleamed with malicious delight.
“Then if something happens to you here, no one would know, huh?”
“….”
Calion kept a blank expression.
He knew a punch was coming.
And he didn’t bother to dodge.
“Ugh!”
“Ah, I heard humans from Halcyon can use divine power.”
“Guess this prince doesn’t have any.”
“Ugh…”
It was a one-sided beating.
Ares watched the scene from a corner of the room.
‘That guy’s letting them hit him on purpose.’
He clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms.
That damn little tree still hadn’t beaten them both.
Even their sword matches had always ended in draws.
But Ares already knew —
If they were truly equals, Calion would have beaten him.
But Calion always lost on purpose, or made it a draw.
‘The reason’s obvious!’
It was to avoid causing trouble for Sion.
If he offended the demons here, it would affect Sion, who was protecting him.
‘That damn blue-eyed brat.’
He hated him to death.
It felt like Calion was always one step ahead — in thought, in closeness with Sion.
Bang.
“Wha—?!”
The boys trying to grab Calion yelped.
A side table next to them had been struck by something like a flaming whip and toppled over.
“Hey.”
“L… Lord?! Wh-what’s wrong?!”
“Looks like you’re having fun. Now get lost.”
Ares summoned a practice sword and tossed one to Calion.
Calion caught it reflexively.
Seeing that, Ares smirked.
“I’m the only one who gets to beat up those blue eyes.”
Calion spat blood from his mouth and muttered.
“…Who says?”
He would take hits from anyone else — but not from Ares.
